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Sovsäck till Aconcagua

I received an email from a reader named Frank who wondered about sleeping bags so I thought I would answer him through the blog.

”Hello, sitting here reading your post with interest because I will eventually go to Aconcagua in January. One of the things that need to be purchased is a new sleeping bag and it would be interesting to know what you have and what their comfort temperature are. / Frank ‘

What I have read to be recommended for Aconcagua a sleeping bag with -20 ° C as a comfort, but have also seen packing lists with both higher and lower comfort limits.

Anneli Wester who has been on Aconcagua twice (2009 and 2010) gave the following answer when I asked her about the temperature on Aconcagua:

”The coldest temperature I had, was about -22 at night, often around -18, – 20 in camp Colera (same as camp Berlin). In the other camps it was about 5 degrees lower per camp as coldest.”

What makes the choice of sleeping bag even more difficult is that it is summer in Argentina in January, and Mendoza then has temperatures of 20-30 ° C. This requires the bag to be used from 20 ° C to -20 ° C. This makes a whole zipper sleeping bag a requirement.

Another option is to have two sleeping bags, one thin and one thicker and so it is easy to regulate the heat as needed. Staring with the thin, then switching to the thicker one and finally use both. If you are already owners of two sleeping bags, which together provide a comfortable temperature of about -20 ° C, it is a cheap and good option.

When it comes down / synthetic Naturkompaniet has a good article, in which the following can be read:

”A down sleeping bag gives you the most heat per gram fill. If your priority is low weight and small volume, choose a down sleeping bag. Keep in mind that down requires a little extra care in handling. The down is sensitive to moisture and insulation is not as good when it has become wet. It is important to keep your down sleeping bag clean and dry. “

My experienced with the synthetic winter sleeping bags is that they are so incredibly bulky, so it goes away just for that reason, but also heat per gram is an important factor in this context. All of us have down sleeping bags (I myself have replaced all of my sleeping bags to down).

Winter sleeping bags in general and in particular winter down sleeping bags are very expensive, especially in Sweden. As all outdoor equipment, it’s a lot cheaper in the U.S, and you can save a considerable sum to take the opportunity to buy one when you’re there or if you have any friends who are there (thank Øystein).

There is another very affordable option if you cannot get to the U.S. Roberts.pl. Roberts describes himself as follows: “ROBERT’S OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT specializes in production of down filled underwear and down sleeping bags filled with natural down, goose down or duck down. Down sleeping bags – for summer and winter, oneseason and multi-season, tourist, outdoor and climbing, trekking and expedition, Himalayan and polar, hunting, survival and army.”

Both Mattias and Victor will have Robert’s sleeping bags on Aconcagua and I and Stefan have summer / 3 season bag from there. As you can read in the table below, Roberts very affordable and match the U.S. prices well and crushes the Swedish prices. Another major advantage of Roberts is that they make sleeping bags after ordering Thus they are custom made after your length and you can choose the color of each piece of cloth amongst other things. I slept in my three seasons at Svellnosbreen round trip and am super happy, high quality and many good solutions.

Our choice of sleeping bags has been influenced by the thought of using it on other expeditions and winter tour in Scandinavia, therefore the warmer sleeping bags than we might need.

Here is a list on what I think is important when buying a sleeping bag to Aconcagua.

Choose a down sleeping bag

Choose one with a comfort -20 ° C if it is just meant to Aconcagua

Choose one with a comfort at -30 ° C or lower if you are planning other ascents / tours

Buy from the U.S. or Roberts

Choose one with the right size so you do not warm up a lot of extra air